Ticket assembly



March 22, 1966 M. s. HANLEY TICKET ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 30, 1965INVENTOR. MARTIN S. HANLEY WW @4744 dad/$74 AT TOR NEYS United StatesPatent C) 3,241,255 TICKET ASSEMBLY Martin S. Haniey, Bornoseen, Vt.,assignor to Sherburne Corporation, Killington, Vt., a corporation ofVermont Filed Sept. 30, 1963, Ser. No. 312,693 2 Claims. (Cl. 40-2) Thepresent invention is directed to the attachment of a tag or ticket andmore particularly to a ticket assembly primarily useful for attaching aticket to wearing apparel.

It is a principal aim of the present invention to provide a new andimproved ticket assembly which has notable usefulness for the attachmentof conventional ski lift tickets to a skiers garment, which comprises afastener that may be readily inserted and threaded through, for examplea button hole or the usual opening in a zipper tab, and to which aticket may be thereafter readily secured and thereby prevent inadvertentdisassociation of the fastener from the garment or intentional removalof the fastener without prior removal of the ticket.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide a ticket andticket fastener assembly of the type described which enables the ticketto be removed from the fastener only with noticeable damage to theticket that precludes its subsequent usefulness whereby an illegal orotherwise undesirable removal and reuse of the ticket is prevented.

It is a further aim of the present-invention to provide a new andimproved ticket fastener of the type described which is economicallyconstructed, to which subsequently effective tickets may be attachedwith or without the removal of the expired or otherwise useless ticketspreviously attached thereto, and which nevertheless may be readilyremoved from its associated wearing apparel.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide a new and improvedticket assembly of the type described which avoids the necessity ofpenetrating or otherwise damaging a garment to which the fastener isapplied and which is safe even though it is attached to the garment whenthe garment is worn while skiing or participating in other activesports.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away and partly in section,of an embodiment of the ticket assembly of the present invention showingit attached to a garment zipper tab;

FIG. 2 is a front longitudinal view, partly broken away, of a modifiedticket assembly showing it threaded through a garment button hole; and

FIG. 3 is a front longitudinal view, partly broken away, of anotherembodiment of a ticket assembly showing it attached to a garment zippertab.

Referring now to the drawing in detail wherein like numerals refer tolike parts in the various embodiments, an embodiment of the ticketassembly of the present invention, shown in FIG. 1, comprises a fastener10, a folded ticket 12 and a pair of conventional comparatively heavyduty staples 14 for afiixing the folded ticket 12 to the fastener 10.The fastener is shown received in an opening in tab 16 of a zipper 18;although it should be understood that the fastener may be readilyapplied to button holes or other openings provided in a garment.

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Where, however, the fastener is utilized for the attachment of a liftticket to a skiers garment, it is notably useful threaded through theusual opening in a zipper tab on the conventional downwardly closingzippers on the side pockets of the skiers stretch pants.

The fastener 10 comprises a generally U-shaped body portion having apair of generally parallel elongated legs 20 and a pair of laterallyextending base portions 22 extending outwardly in oppositely directionsfrom the ends of the legs 20. Preferably, the fastener 10 is constructedfrom a continuous length of wire of stainless steel or othernoncorrosive and nonrusting material with the body portion and the baseportions extending in substantially the same plane whereby the fasteneris adapted to lie flat against the garment to which it is attached.However, for example, the U-shaped end of the body portion may betwisted slightly with respect to the remaining portion of the fastenerbody if such aids in positioning the fastener flat against the garmentto which it is attached. Alternatively, the fastener 10 could beconstructed from a wirelike continuous length of plastic which wouldlikewise be noncorrosive and nonrusting. As with the stainless steelfastener, however, it is preferred that the plastic fastener beresilient but nevertheless have sufficient strength to prevent manualdeformation of the base portions into substantial alignment with thelegs 20/.

The fastener 10 may be conveniently threaded through the opening in thezipper tab 16 after first inserting the terminal end of one of the baseportions through the tab opening. When fully installed, the fastener 10'tends to assume the position shown in FIG. 1 thereby facilitating thesubsequent attachment of the ticket 12 to the fastener. Therefore, whenthe fastener 10 is used for attaching a ski lift ticket, the fastenermay be first inserted on the garment prior to the purchase of theticket, at which time the ticket may be conveniently attached to thefastener, preferably by folding the ticket around the base portions 22of the fastener, for which purpose the base portions 22 extend insubstantial alignment perpendicular to the legs 20, and then staplingthe opposed substantially parallel faces 24, 26 of the ticket together,preferably with the staples 14, as shown in FIG. 1,. bridging both ofthe legs 29 and positioned adjacent the folded edge 28 of the ticket andthe opposed edges thereof. Alternatively, the staples may beconveniently applied to bridge only one of the legs 20 or appliedlaterally outwardly of the legs 20 and parallel and adjacent to the legs20 or parallel and adjacent to the base portions 22. For convenience,the folded edge 28 may be scored to assist in folding the ticket on thefastener.

The ticket assembly of the present invention has par ticular usefulnessin preventing a removal of the ticket Without noticeably altering itsappearance so as to preclude its subsequent use by another. This can beaccomplished by the use of conventional, but comparatively heavy staples14 which cannot be removed from the ticket 26 by hand or even with aconventional staple removing device without partially destroying theticket. Where, however, it is desired to remove the ticket 26 and thefastener from the associated garment, this may be readily accomplishedby merely tearing the ticket from the fastener and thereafter deflectingthe legs 20 inwardly to remove them from the inturned ends of thestaples 14. Accordingly, it may be desired to use a relatively thinsheet cardboard material for the tickets 26 as is conventionally usedfor ski lift tickets whereby the ticket can be conveniently torn fromthe fastener and whereby the staples cannot be easily removed from theticket with out noticeable damage to the ticket.

Alternatively, the ticket may be similarly attached to the fastener byan appropriate adhesive adapted for securing the opposed faces 24, 26 ofthe ticket together. This adhesive might be of any well-known variety,but preferably is of sufiicient strength to prevent inadvertentseparation of the ticket faces 24, 26 or intentional removal of theticket without noticeably damaging the ticket whereby subsequent illegaluse of the ticket is prevented.

With either an adhesive or staples for securing the ticket to thefastener the ticket assembly has particular usefulness at ski resortareas for attachment of the usually nontransferable ski lift ticket. Insuch application it has the advantage of providing for attachment of theticket securely to the garment without the conventional requirement ofapplying a staple to the material of the garment. Additionally, theticket can be readily attached to the fastener even in the coldestweather as by a conventional hand stapler or with the use of a pressuresensitive adhesive with assurance that the ticket will remain secured tothe fastener. Further, this arrangement solves one of the prevailingproblems in the management of the sales and use of ski lift tickets,i.e. the illegal transfer of a nontransferable ski lift ticket by oneskier to another, as the ticket cannot be removed from the fastenerwithout noticeably damaging it thereby making it subsequently unusable.Where, as now, the ticket is stapled to the skiers parka or othergarment, not only 'might the garment be damaged but only light staplescan be used which can be subsequentl easily removed without damage tothe ticket. Of additional significance is the fact that the folded edge28 of the ticket provides for shielding the terminal ends of the baseportions 22 thereby making the fastener safe even when it is worn whileparticipating in an active sport such as skiing.

Referring to FIG. 2, a modified ticket assembly of the present inventionis shown with the ticket assembly attached to a garment 30 byappropriately feeding a fastener 31 through a button hole 32 throughwhich the button 34 may be subsequently inserted to overlap the U-shapedend of the fastener. The fastener 31 is substantially the same as thefastener of FIG. 1 excepting for the fact that its base portions 38 haveterminal ends 40 which are inwardly turned toward the legs 42 of thefastener to provide additional assurance against damage to the garmentor injury to the wearer.

Referring to FIG. 3, another embodiment of the ticket assembly of thepresent invention is shown attached to a zipper tab 16. In thisembodiment the fastener 50, which is also preferably constructed ofstainless steel wire, has a generally U-shaped body with elongated legs52, 54 and with a single base portion 56 extending laterally from theend of the leg 52, which base portion 56 is shown inwardly turned towardthe leg 52 as in the embodiment of FIG. 2. The end portion of the leg 54is formed to have a slight outward inclination with respect to the leg52 and terminates with an inwardly turned end 58 which preferably liesupwardly of the base portion 56. The leg 52 is formed to provide twolaterally projecting arcuate portions 60, 62 which are of a size adaptedfor receiving a pair of adjacent fingers to enable the fastener to bereadily held and thereby facilitate the insertion of the end 58 throughthe opening in the zipper tab.

With this embodiment the ticket 12 is preferably folded with its foldededge 23 adjacent the leg 54 and in engagement with the inwardly turnedend thereof. As with the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2, an adhesive canbe used to secure the ticket faces 24, 26 together, or one or morecomparatively heavy duty staples 14 can be attached to the ticket tofasten the opposing faces of the ticket together. Although three staples14 are shown, a reduced number may be used to adequately secure theticket to the fastener, and with either the staples 14 straddling theleg 52 or substantially aligned adjacent thereto on the opposite side ofthe leg from the folded edge 28. Alternatively, the staples 14 may beattached to bridge both of the legs 52, 54; however, an application ofthe staples as shown in FIG. 3 facilitates the removal of the ticketfrom the fastener which may be accomplished by merely tearing the ticketalong its folded edge 28 and thereafter displacing the ticket along theleg 52 to feed the staples from the fastener.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modificationsand adaptations of the structure above described will become readilyapparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention,the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A ticket assembly comprising a wire fastener having a generallyU-shaped body portion with elongated legs and a pair of alignedgenerally straight base portions extending outwardly in opposite lateraldirections from the ends of said legs; a folded sheet ticket having alaterally extending folded edge generally parallel with and adjacent thebase portions and a pair of generally parallel face portions extendinglongitudinally from said folded edge along opposite sides of saidU-shaped body; and at least one laterally extending staple connectingthe face portions of the ticket and straddling at least one of the legsto connect the ticket to the wire fastener and to thereby precluderemoval of the ticket from the wire fastener.

2. A ticket assembly comprising a fastener of a continuous length of awirelike material adapted to be threaded through a buttonhole or thelike; said fastener having a generally U-shaped body portion withelongated legs and a pair of aligned generally straight base portionsextending outwardly in opposite lateral directions from the ends of saidlegs; a folded sheet ticket having a laterally extending folded edgegenerally parallel with and adjacent the base portions and a pair ofgenerally parallel face portions extending longitudinally from saidfolded edge along opposite sides of said U-shaped body and laterallybeyond said straight base portions; and means for securing the faceportions of the ticket together and thereby secure the ticket to thefastener whereby the fastener cannot be withdrawn from the buttonhole orthe like until the ticket is removed from the fastener.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,531,335 3/1925Gudmundsen 40-26 2,829,455 4/1958 Parker 4024 2,895,196 7/1959 Kennedy40-2 X FOREIGN PATENTS 628,713 7/ 1927 France.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

JEROME SCHNALL, Examiner.

WENCELSO J. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner.

1. A TICKET ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A WIRE FASTENER HAVING A GENERALLY U-SHAPED BODY PORTION WITH ELONGATED LEGS AND A PAIR OF ALIGNED GENERALLY STRAIGHT BASE PORTIONS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY IN OPPOSITE LATERRAL DIRECTIONS FROM THE ENDS OF SAID LEGS; A FOLDED SHEET TICKET HAVING A LATERALLY EXTENDING FOLDED EDGE GENERALLY PARALLEL WITH AND ADJACENT THE BASE PORTIONS AND A PAIR OF GENERALLY PARALLEL FACE PORTIONS EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY FROM SAID FOLDED EDGE ALONG OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID U-SHAPED BODY; AND AT LEAST ONE LATERALLY EXTENDING STAPLE CONNECTING THE FACE PORTIONS OF THE TICKET AND STRADDING AT LEAST ONE OF THE LEGS TO CONNECT THE TICKET TO THE WIRE FASTENER AND TO THEREBY PRECLUDE REMOVAL OF THE TICKET FROM THE WIRE FASTENER. 